Challenges to the American Founding

Inspired by the writings of Leo Strauss, this collection of essays explores how the original U.S. founding was contested and challenged by the Civil War, industrialization, and the rise of the progressive era in the writings of such diverse thinkers as John Calhoun, Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Adams, and Jane Adams. A good addition to collections on U.S. political thought or history. Recommended. General readers and undergraduate collections and above. -- D. Schultz, Hamline University * CHOICE * Recommended. * CHOICE *

Ronald J. Pestritto is Charles and Lucia Shipley Chair in the American Constitution at Hillsdale College and a Research Fellow of the Claremont Institute. He is the author ofFounding the Criminal Law: Punishment and Political Thought in the Origins of America as well as a forthcoming book on the political thought of Woodrow Wilson.Thomas G. West is Professor of Politics at the University of Dallas and a Senior Fellow of the Claremont Institute. He is the author ofVindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America.

Part 1 Prologue Chapter 2 Republicanism and Constitutional Government in the Political Thought of Andrew Jackson Part 3 The Challenge of Pro-Slavery Thought Chapter 4 John C. Calhoun and the New Science of Race and Politics Chapter 5 Lincoln, Secession, and Revolution: The Civil War Challenge to the Founding Chapter 6 Jefferson Davis and Self-Government Chapter 7 Protecting the Privileges of Citizenship: Founding, Civil War, and Reconstruction Part 8 The Challenges of Positivism, Relativism, and Progressivism Chapter 9 Theology, Metaphysics, and Positivism: The Origins of the Social Sciences and the Transformation of the American University Chapter 10 Shoreless Ocean, Sunless Sea: Henry Adams's Democracy Chapter 11 Walt Whitman's Civic Religion for America Chapter 12 Jane Addams, Benjamin Franklin, and the Problem of Welfare Dependency Chapter 13 Woodrow Wilson, American History, and the Advent of Progressivism